Bobby pin with expander



June 6, 1950 1. o. HODSO-N ET AL I 2,510,821

BOBBY mm mm TEXPANDER Filed Jan. 22, 1948 ZAYNE O. #008 O EB 5219/ .5 I14 mLso/v,

Jnvcutors:

Patented June 6, 1950 2,510,821 BOBBYPIN WITH'EXPANDER Layne '.-Hodson-, Layton, and Blaine W. Wilson,

' Salt-Lake City, Utah Application. January 22, 1948, 'SerialNo. 3,684

(01. lea-50);

3 Glaims;

videan open loop. terminating in a. pair of long.

clip members which serve .to grip and hold in place a wide swath .of hair.

In using these bobby pins,, however, considerable difficulty has been encountered in openingthe clip members for application to thehaiitbecause the resilient nature .of the pin makes for normal maintenance of tight closure ,of' the clip members; with respect to. each. other. It is. customary for women to open the .clip members with finger nails or teeth, andoften finger nails are broken andteeth chipped. by such-practice.

Recently variousdev-ices have. appeared on the market for facilitating. opening. of. the clip members immediately prior to use. For example, a fingerring is- .availablewhich may be. worn. by a beautyparlor operator during working. hours, the. ring embodying. a formation against which the separableends of bobby pins are brought to bear so'as. to force the tightly closed clip members. thereof apart. Again, a. wedge-formed shield is available: for. insertion over the front teethof a bobby pin user to similarly. facilitate openingv of. the clip members of? the bobby pin and tosafeguard the teeth against injury.

All .such devices are clumsy, to use and a nuisance, especially for the individualuser who works. only with her. own hair and, perhaps, with the hair ofher' children. iMore likely than not; the device is misplaced at the very time: it" is needed, and its use. is, seldom justified for the few bobby pins appliedf personally.

The present invention provides a bobby pin and expander combination to be .sold and used as an integrated unit, the expander being always attached to and forming'an operativepart. of'the bobby pin itself, and being limited inits traveli to effectively accomplish its; purpose during use.

Pursuant to the invention, there is secured within .the loop portion of each bobby pin, at the bend thereof, a substantially rigidislideielement, whichitmay. be graspedbythe fingers of the user atzthemoment' of application of'the bobby pirr to the hair and pushed'forwardly a limited distance along and between the convergent leg-members of the loop, asa wedge; thereby'easily forcing the pair-of clip members apart,,w-ithout obstructing th open hair-insertion. end. of. :the bobby pin.

the slide" element-is forced back ta the bend of theiloop portion, thereby allewing' the clip'memb'ers" to snaptogether over the strand. Thus each bobby pin embodies as apart of its --structure movable wedge means for readily and conveniently' expanding the clip members thereof.

Accordingly; a principal object of the invention is. to provide a bobby pin which embodies-its own. expander for limited action to uniformly achieve optimum results during use.

An object isto provide a bobby pin and expander combination that is simple and positive in operation.

An object is to provide sucha combination capable of high speed, low costmass-production.

FUIZthBITObjGOtS" and features willbecome apparent: from the" followingdetailed description of the illustratedpreferred forms of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig.1 representsasideyelevation of one of the preferred forms; I

Fig.3, a vertical section'taken on the line.3--3; Fig. I;

Fig. 4, .a perspective-view taken from the bend or loop end;

Fig. 5, a view showing the wedge element being pushed forwardly to expand or open the clip members;

Fig. 6;, a persp'eetive'view showing the manner of application of the: bobby pi'n' combination to the hair;

Fig. 7 a view. similar to that of Fig. l, but illustrating, a somewhat different embodiment/of the. invention;

Fig... 8; .a fragmentary topplan View of the embodimentof Fig; 1

Fig, .9, afragmentary' side elevation' of another embodimentv 0f the invention-,1

FiglILa top plan View of the' structureshown in. Fig. .91.

Fig. 11, a. view. 1 corresponding tothat of Fig-.- 9i but. illustrating the expander pushed forward to open. the bobby'pim, and

Fig. 12;.a vertical sectionv taken on the line l2;-.l,2,;Fi'g, .9.

Referring now to the drawing: the embodimentoflEig. l. includesva bobby'pin Iii, essentially of.- conventional formation, and a" traveler or expander block ,lllof wedge formation. The bobby pihlfiiis resilient, and is formed customary mannerfrom. a lengthpoif flat strip or wire: It possesses a loop memberlz -which terminate's in apairio'flong clip members l 3 and M. 'The loop member 12" is elongate,- havingleg: portions 42a and I2!) converging together from the loop bend. The leg portion lZb merges into the clip member M in aligned relationship therewith, the two forming a substantially rectilinear strip along the length of the pin. The leg portion 12a slopes toward the leg portion l2b, converging therewith, and merges into the clip member is angularl or arcuately. The clip member [3 lies parallel with the clip member l4, and is held tightly thereagainst by the inherent resiliency of the hobby pin structure as a whole. Its free tip l3a is curved somewhat to provide an'open mouth l5, which facilitates insertion of a strand or tress of hair.

The expander II is in the form of a wedgeshaped block slide which acts as a wedge in forcing the two clip members of the bobby pin apart. It is normally positioned within the loop portion l2 of the bobby pin with maximum dimensions disposed at the loop bend, and is anchored for sliding movement longitudinally. The leg portion I2b of the pin passes through a longitudinal slideway defined by a band member l6, Fig. 3, and the base of the block. Thus, the expander II is both secured to and has its movement guided relative to the bobby pin I0.

The sloping wedge surface of the block is advantageously slightly arcuate, so that the leg portion In of the pin makes substantially a tangential contact therewith, as indicated at IT, Fig. 1, and the sides of the block-are advantageously roughened in some suitable manner to provide effective gripping surfaces. A projection I8 is provided on the clip member [4 as a stop member for coaction with the band It in limiting sliding movement of the expander II and preventing travel thereof beyond the point of maximum expansion of the pair of clip members. The projection I8 is properly located for that purpose.

In preparing the bobby pin Ill for use the expander l l is pushed forwardly, as in Fig. 5, thereby opening the clip members 13 and M. The opened bobby pin is then applied to a tress of hair in customary manner, as in Fig. 6, the expander ll being forced back to the loop bend of the loop portion [2 of the bobby pin by entry of the hair.

As illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the bobby pin may be of the type where one of the clip members is crimped throughout its length. Thus the crimps of clip member do not impair the effective operation of the expander block. In this instance the expander block 2| is shown of somewhat different formation merely to illustrate a permissible variation. It is not wedge shaped, as is the block II, and is anchored merely by pairs of cars 22 which may be provided at both slide faces thereof, as shown, or merely at one. One of the pair of ears, indicated 23, may be inturned, as shown, to overlie the leg portion 26 of the loop member and to utilize the first crimp 20a of the clip member 20 as a limit stop.

The embodiment of Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 employs an expander slide 25 of a formation essentially concentric with the bend of the loop member 26 of the bobby pin. The slide is externally channeled, as at 27, Fig. 12, to mate snugly with said bend of the loop member of the bobby pin and with the respective legs thereof for movement to separate the clip members 23 and 29. An inwardly directed crimp in the clip member 29 is provided in the illustrated instance as a limit stop, the same being accommodated by a corresponding crimp of the clip member 28 when the bobby pin is closed.

In operation, the two embodiments last described work similarly to that first described.

The expander slides of all embodiments may be molded to satisfactory shape from metal or from a substantially hard-setting plastic.

Whereas this invention is here illustrated and described with respect to certain preferred specific embodiments thereof, it should be understood that various changes may be made in said embodiments and various other embodiments that may be designed on the basis of the teachings hereof by those skilled in the art without departing from the generic scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a bobby pin having a loop member and a pair of elongate clip members extending therefrom and normally resiliently urged together in closed contacting relationship, the said loop member being gradually convergent from its loop bend to the said closed clip members; a clip-expanding traveler fitted into said open loop member, said traveler having a portion thereof of size accommodated by said loop bend portion of the loop member, but too large to be accommodated by the convergent portion of said loop member without separating the clip members of the bobby pin, the said portion of the traveler being normally disposed at and within said loop bend portion, but being movable along said convergent portion of the loop member for expanding said bobby pin to open position; and a pair of coacting limit stop members associated with the said traveler and with one of said clip members, respectively, that limit stop member which is associated with the said one clip member being disposed adjacent the termination of convergence of said loop members, so as to be positioned intermediate the length of said bobby pin to limit outward travel of said traveler to substantially the position of maximum separation of said clip members.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the traveler member is formed with a band providing a closed slideway which receives a corresponding clip member of the bobby pin, and wherein one of the pair of limit stop members is provided by said band and the other is associated with the said corresponding clip member.

3. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein one clip member of the bobby pin is outwardly crimped along its length, and the other clip member has an inward crimp adapted to nest with one of the outward crimps of the said one clip member when the said clip members are closed, the said inward crimp serving as alimit stop for the traveler member.

LAYNE O. I-IODSON. BLAINE W. WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 57,995 Saul May 24, 1921 1,082,333 Hughes Dec. 23, 1913 2,083,614 McPhee June 15, 1937 2,262,223 Chessin Nov. 11, 1941 2,272,514 Davis Feb. 10, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 41,467 Switzerland Feb. 1'7, 1908 

